Machine for trimming window shades



Jufly 3, 1934. -r

MACHINE FOR TRIMMING WINDOW SHADES Filed May 12, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Y 1934 A. K. GAST MACHINE FOR TRIMMING WINDOW SHADES Filed May 12, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Ell/673607 196M? 0/5 Patented July 3, 1934 UNETED STATES MACHIN E FOR TRIMMING WINDOW SHADES Albert R. Gast, St. Joseph, Mich.

Application May 12, 1932, Serial No. 610,813

6 Claims.

This invention relates to window shade cutters, more particularly to machines for cutting off one end of the pole, and a portion of the shade itself, when the shade and the pole are found to too long for any particular window.

It will be seen, therefore, that the present invention is in the nature of an improvement on the Shade cutting machine covered by Patent No. 863,601.

One object of the invention, as disclosed herein, is to provide means, preferably in the form of a slidable member, for gauging the exact length desired for the shade and pole, before cutting off the end, and which will thereafter serve as a support for one end of the pole and shade while the pin is being reset in the other end thereof.

Another object is to provide means for drawing the pin, before the end of the pole is out 011, and for then resetting the pin in the shortened end of the pole.

It is also an object to provide certain details and features of construction tending to increase the general eflicience and the desirability of a window-shade cutting machine of this particular character.

To the foregoing and other useful ends, the invention consists in the matters hereinafter set forth and claimed, and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which,

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a window-shade cutting machine embodying the principles of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a front side elevation of said machine.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged transverse section on line 33 of Fig. 2 of the drawings.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged transverse section on line 4-4 in Fig. 2 of the drawings.

Fig. 5 is a detail section on line 5-5 in Fig. 6 of the drawings.

Fig. 6 is a longitudinal section, on a larger scale, on line 6-6 in Fig. 1 of the drawings.

Fig. '1 is a horizontal section, on a larger scale, on line 7-7 in Fig. 2 of the drawings.

As thus illustrated, the invention comprises a base 1 for supporting the various operative elements. The shade holder 2 for gripping the shade and pole, and the cutter device 3, for cutting 011 the shade cloth, and the bevel gearing 4 with the handle 5 for rotating the rolled-up shade cloth and its pole, are the same as those shown and described in said prior patent, and do not need further description here. In fact, so far as the improvements herein shown, described and claimed are concerned, the cutting means can be of any suitable known or approved character.

In accordance with the invention, while the rolled-up shade cloth 6 and its pole 7 are being rotated to trim the shade cloth, at one end, the other end of the pole is supported in the socket 8 formed in the end of the pin-like support 9 mounted at the top of the bracket 10, which latter is mounted to slide toward and away from the cutting means on the parallel rods 11 inserted firmly in the base 1, at one end of each rod", and supported at their other ends by the supplemental base 12, a screw device 13 being provided for clamping the bracket 10 in any adjusted position on said rods. Thus, the pin at one end of. the shade pole engages in the socket 8', and ro-- tates therein, while the shade cloth is being trimmed at the other end of the pole.

Thereafter, the cap 1 1 and the pin 15 at the end of the pole, after the shortening is done, are removed, the surplus end portion of the pole being cut off' in any suitable manner, and the said cap and pin are thereafter replaced. For this purpose, the machine body is provided with a longitudinally movable tube 16, extending parallel with the length of the machine, preferably immediately below the position of the cutting means, and is provided with an internal longitudinal rod 17 having a well known form of chuck or gripping means 18 at the end, and having a spring tensioning handle 19 screwed on the other end thereof, to tension the spring 20 and to draw the chuck back into closing position, after it has taken hold of the pin that is to be removed from the stub portion of the pole. The tube 16 is reciprocated by a rack and pinion device 21 provided with a handle 22, in a direction to receive the outer end of the pin 15, and when the handle 19 is then tightened, the chuck is pulled back and closed on the pin, and by operating the handle 22, the pin is withdrawn from the pole. Thereafter the cap 14 is removed. The pole is then placed in position, and the handle 22 is. operated in the reverse direction, thereby to push the pin 15 back into the end of the pole, the cap 14 having been replaced after the cutting off of the end portion of the pole. The handle 19 is then loosened, and the chuck is backed away from the pole to release the pin.

During the pin pulling and resetting operation, the other end of the pole has its pin supported in the notch 23 of the bracket 10 previously described, whereby said bracket serves alsoas a thrust bearing when the pin at the cut-01f end of the pole is reset.

It will also be seen that one of the rods 11 is provided with graduations or marks or indications 24, adapted to co-operate with the mark or marks 25 on a portion of the bracket 10 thereby to indicate the exact length desired for the shade and pole, during the use of the bracket 10 as a support for the outer end of the pole when the cloth at the other end is being trimmed or cut off. With this measuring or gauging device, as shown more clearly in Fig. 7, it is possible to accurately determine the length desired for the cloth, the length desired for the pole, which latter, of course, must be a little longer than the shade cloth, and the exact length desired for the tip.

In use, therefore, the shade pole with the cloth thereon is placed in position, as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings, the slide bracket 10 having been secured in position to accurately gauge the length of the shade cloth, and the length of the pole, in the manner explained. The handle 5 is then operated to cause the rotation of the pole and shade cloth so that the cutter 3 will trim or cut off the shade cloth in the desired manner. Then a saw is placed in the saw guide 26, and the pole is cut off. The cut-elf portion of the pole, with the cap 14 and the pin or tip 15 thereon, is then placed in position, as shown in Fig. 6 of the drawings. The outer end portion of the pin 15 is gripped by the chuck 18, as previously explained, and by operating the handle 22, the pin is pulled out of the stub end portion of the pole. Then the cap 14 is removed, and the shortened pole and shade are then placed in the machine, as indicated in Fig. 7, with the cap 14 on the cut-01f end of the pole, and with the tip or pin at the other end of the pole in the notch or recess 23, and the handle 22 is again operated, to move the tube 16 and its chuck rod 17 to the left, thereby to reinsert the pin 15 in the end of the pole. In this way, the slide bracket 10 serves as a gauge for the trimming of the cloth, and the trimming of the pole, and for the proper reinsertion or resetting of the cap and pin, for the end of the tube 16 can be used to push the cap 14 on to the cut-off 01' trimmed end of the pole, at the same time that the pin is being shoved into place.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that the entire operation of trimming the shade cloth, trimming the pole, and resetting the cap and pin, are accomplished on one and the same machine. Also, for the purpose of trimming the shade cloth, trimming the pole, and resetting the cap and pin, a single slide bracket is provided for engaging the outer end of the pole, while the successive operations are being performed at the cut-off or trimmed end portion thereof It will also be seen that the slide bracket 10 remains in fixed position during the entire general operation of shortening the pole and the shade cloth thereon and of thereafter resetting the pin and cap on the shortened end of the pole. When the exact length is determined for the pole, when it is shortened, the slide bracket 10 is then adjusted into proper position therefor, and is then fixed in this position, by the tightening of the handle 13, and the bracket remains in this position until the work of shortening the pole and shade and resetting the pin and cap is completed. In this way, therefore, the slide bracket 10 is a part of the necessary instrumentalities for shortening the shade and pole, and is also a part of the necessary instrumentalities for resetting the pin and cap on the shortened end of the pole.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In a window-shade trimming machine, for use in shortening the pole and shade cloth thereon, and for resetting the cap and pin on the shortened end of the pole, the combination of a slide bracket for supporting the outer end of the pole, while the shade and pole are being cut off or trimmed at the other end thereof, said slide bracket havingmeans for accurately gauging the desired length of the pole and shade, mechanism operating longitudinally of the machine to withdraw the pin and permit the removal of the cap from the cut-off portion of the pole, adapted for operation afterward to reset the pin and cap on the shortened end of the pole, and means on said slide bracket to support the outer end of the pole during the operation of said mechanism to reset the pin and cap.

2. A structure as specified in claim 1, comprising parallel longitudinal rods on which said bracket is slidable longitudinally of the machine, one of said rods being provided with marks or graduations, and the slide bracket being provided with a portion having means co-operating with said marks or graduations to determine the exact position for the pole and shade during the shortening thereof.

3. A structure as specified in claim 1, comprising parallel longitudinal rods on which said bracket is slidable longitudinally of the machine, one of said rods being provided with marks or graduations, and the slide bracket being provided with a portion having means co-operating with said marks or graduations to determine the exact position for the pole and shade during the shortening thereof and during the resetting of the pin and cap on the shortened end of the pole.

4. A structure as specified in claim 1, said mechanism comprising a tube mounted for longitudinal endwise reciprocation, a manually operable rack and pinion device for reciprocating said tube, a chuck rod in said tube, said rod being provided at one end with a chuck for gripping the shade-pole pin, and provided at its other end with means for operating said chuck, whereby said chuck is operative to grip and withdraw the pin from the cut-oif end portion of the pole, and is operative by reverse motion of said rack and pinion device to then push the pin into the shortened end of the pole.

5. A structure as specified in claim 1, the position of the pole for the resetting of the pin and cap on the shortened end thereof being parallel with and in a plane below the position of the pole for shortening of the shade cloth and the cutting ofi of the surplus end portion of the pole, whereby the upper end portion of said bracket engages the pin at the other end of the pole, during the shortening of the shade cloth and the pole, while the lower portion of said bracket engages the same pin during the resetting of the pin and cap at the shortened end of the pole.

6. A structure as specified in claim 1, the means on said bracket to support the outer end of the pole in the pin resetting position thereof, comprising a notch or recess formed in the lower porv;

tion of the bracket, said mechanism being in longitudinal alignment with said notch or recess, in a vertical plane in front of and spaced from the vertical plane of the cutting-off or shortening position of the pole, whereby said bracket remains in fixed position for the entire general opm eration of shortening the pole and the shade cloth and resetting the pin and cap on the shortened end of the pole.

ALBERT K. GAST. 

